Timbers add four more to roster

April 20, 20073:55 AM PDT

PORTLAND, Ore. –. The Portland Timbers announced today the team has added four more players – midfielder Shaun Higgins and forwards Jaime Ambriz, Luc Harrington and Bryan Jordan to the 2007 roster. Higgins, Harrington and Jordan have been cleared and are eligible for the 2007 USL First Division season opener on Saturday. Ambriz is waiting for international clearance.

“I’m glad to have these guys on board this season,” said Timbers head coach and general manager Gavin Wilkinson. “These are all hard-working players who will all be battling for spots on the field.”

Ambriz trained with the Timbers during the 2006 season and made an appearance against English side Coventry City in July. Ambriz, 28, started his professional career in Switzerland in 2002 and last played for Concordia Basel in 2005. In 2002-03, Ambriz scored 24 goals for FV Lyss to lead the Liga Interregional 2 (Swiss fourth division) in goals and earned a spot on the all-league first team. Ambriz attended UC-Santa Barbara for three seasons, and led the Gauchos in scoring his junior year (2000).

Last season, Harrington split time with Miami FC and the Charleston Battery, playing in a total of 15 matches scoring one goal. Harrington, 23, played the 2005 season with Danish side B10909 Odense and spent parts of the preseason in the Timbers training camp. Harrington played collegiate soccer at UC-Riverside where he was the first player in school history to earn three All-Big West Conference selections. He ended his time at UC-Riverside as the school’s career-leading scorer with 23 goals and 11 assists.

Higgins, who was a member of the Timbers 2005 squad, returns for a second season. Last year, Higgins, 28, played in six reserve matches for Chivas USA of Major League Soccer. He totaled 364 minutes and earned three starts with the Chivas USA Reserves. Higgins scored two goals in 16 matches for the Timbers during the 2005 season and was a USL Team of the Week selection in Week 18. The Redlands, Calif., native attended Cal State-Fullerton and spent the 2004 season with the Orange County Blue Star of the Premier Development League (PDL) before starting his professional career in 2005.

A standout at Oregon State University, Jordan, 21, begins his professional career with the Timbers in 2007. At OSU, Jordan was an All-Pac-10 honorable mention his senior year and was a three-time Pac-10 All-Academic first-team selection. Jordan scored seven goals in 19 matches his senior year, and finished his junior season sixth in the Pac-10 in scoring with five goals. Scoring a goal on his first collegiate touch, Jordan finished his OSU career with 15 goals in 68 matches over four seasons.

Jordan joins Alan Gordon and Chad Bartlome on the list of former OSU forwards to have played with the Timbers since the club joined the United Soccer League in 2001. Gordon is currently a member of MLS’s L.A. Galaxy.

With the announcement, the Timbers’ roster has increased to 21 players.

The Timbers begin the 2007 USL First Division season on Saturday against the Puerto Rico Islanders (1-0-0, 3pts) at PGE Park. The Islanders earned their first victory of the season with a 2-1 win over Rochester on April 13, in Puerto Rico. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.